NORMAN — Oklahoma has been spreading things around among its receiving corps in recent weeks.
There just hasn’t been much to spread around.
The No. 8-ranked Sooners come into Saturday’s 11 a.m. home game against Missouri as the No. 11 passing attack in the SEC, averaging less than 227 yards per game through the air..
The Sooners figure to need to produce in the passing game against the Tigers if they want to keep their chances alive to make the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.
There is some confidence that the group can head on an upward trend.
Isaiah Sategna has been OU’s most consistent producer at the position all season while Javonnie Gibson and Jer’Michael Carter continue to carve out roles after being limited for much of the season.
Sategna continuously drew praise for his consistency leading up to the season and that hasn’t changed as he’s emerged as the Sooners’ top wide receiver after transferring from Arkansas in the offseason.
“The kid knows what he’s supposed to do, when he’s supposed to do it, how he’s supposed to do it,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “Is he perfect? No. But does he do pretty dang good? Yeah, he does. … Whenever the ball’s in his hands, usually good things happen. That builds a really good trust. I’m not even talking about just from me, I’m talking about from everybody in the building, from the quarterback. He’s just ultra-consistent.”
Sategna comes into Saturday’s game with 53 catches for 718 yards and five touchdowns.
No other receiver on the roster has more than 44 catches, 454 yards or more than two touchdowns.
OU could use Deion Burks being more involved.
Since starting the season off with 14 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns combined in wins over Illinois State and Michigan, he’s had just 30 catches for 265 yards and no touchdowns.
The biggest room for growth, though, over the closing stretch figures to come from Gibson and Carter.
Gibson missed the first four games of the season while recovering from a broken leg he suffered in the spring.
Even since returning, the process has been a slow one.
He had five catches for 24 yards against South Carolina in his third game back and last week had two catches for 26 yards.
Those catches couldn’t have come at a better time.
Gibson gained 11 yards on second-and-10 from the Sooners’ 30 early in the fourth quarter and then hauled in a 15-yard completion from John Mateer a few plays later to once again extend the drive.
Mateer said he thought those were big moments for Gibson’s progression.
“I think it was big,” Mateer said. “I think he loved the moment. You talk about somebody screaming in the locker room after we won, it’s him. And his high-pitched voice, you can’t miss it. But he loves playing here and I’m excited for him.”
Carter has appeared in every game, but his snap counts were very low until recently.
But the McNeese State transfer played a season-high 33 snaps against Tennessee, with two catches for 21 yards. Last week, he played 16 offensive snaps and had three catches for 36 yards.
“He’s a great human and him coming and pushing everybody (is important),” Mateer said. “He’s always ready. That’s how it’s been since he got here. … He’s gonna keep doing it.”
Carter and Gibson probably need to continue their upward trends against Missouri if the Sooners’ offense is going to reach its potential.
